Rajgauri Pawar, a 12-year-old Indian-origin girl in England, secured two points higher than geniuses Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking in the British Mensa IQ test. Pawar appeared for the test in Manchester last month, and scored 162 – the highest possible IQ for someone under the age of 18.
She has been invited to join the coveted society as a member. Pawar of Cheshire county is among the one per cent of those who sit in the Mensa test and achieve the maximum mark, with the ‘genius’ benchmark set at 140. She secured 162, two points higher than Einstein and Hawking.
She is one of only 20,000 people to achieve the score worldwide, Mensa said.
“I was a little nervous before the test but it was fine and I’m really pleased to have done so well,” Pawar said.
Her father Dr Surajkumar Pawar said, “This wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of her teachers and the support which my daughter enjoys every day at school”. She studies at Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, which also expressed pride at her achievement.
“Everybody is delighted. She is a very well-liked student and we all expect great things from her,” said Andrew Barry, her maths teacher.
Mensa is a non-profit organisation open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test.